Stang shows how far it's come against Connolly

Boys Basketball: Stang 72, Connolly 61

A few months of experience has made a world of difference for the youthful Bishop Stang basketball team. The Spartans defeated Bishop Connolly, 72-61, Wednesday night at home. Back on Dec. 18 Stang, dropped a 30-point decision to the Cougars.

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By DEREK VITAL

southcoasttoday.com

By DEREK VITAL

Posted Feb. 14, 2013 at 12:01 AM

By DEREK VITAL

Posted Feb. 14, 2013 at 12:01 AM

» Social News

DARTMOUTH — A few months of experience has made a world of difference for the youthful Bishop Stang basketball team.

The Spartans defeated Bishop Connolly, 72-61, Wednesday night at home. Back on Dec. 18 Stang, dropped a 30-point decision to the Cougars.

"The kids played tremendous," said Stang head coach Joe Balestracci. "The difference now with these guys is they keep their composure when the other team makes a run. Earlier in the year, they had trouble doing that."

The Spartans (5-11, 3-4 EAC) took the lead for good with 2:45 left in the first quarter on a drive and lay in by junior forward Andrew Dessert which made the score 7-6. The Spartans closed out the opening quarter with a 12-0 run capped off by a basket at the buzzer by junior forward Ross Ketschke, which increased the Stang advantage to 17-6.

A 3-pointer by Dessert gave the Spartans a 23-14 lead midway through the second quarter. The Cougars (14-6, 9-2 Mayflower Small) closed the half with a 7-0 run including five consecutive points by Alex Medeiros, trimming the Stang lead to 29-24 at the break.

Connolly high-scoring senior guard Tommy Keyes opened the third quarter by draining a 3-pointer and the Spartans responded with a 7-0 run including a foul line jumper by Dessert and a 3-pointer by senior guard Chris Mulvey. The Spartans held a comfortable lead the rest of the quarter.

Connolly made things interesting in the final quarter, cutting the Stang lead to 60-56 on a 3-pointer by Keyes with 2:30 left to play. A pair of free throws by Cougar forward Jack Santoro made the score 64-61 Stang with 25.9 seconds remaining, but Mulvey kept the Cougars at bay by sinking eight free throws down the stretch. For the fourth quarter, the senior guard was a flawless 14-for-14 from the charity stripe. He finished with a game-high 30 points.

Mulvey admitted the win was sweet given the lopsided loss to the Cougars earlier in the season. He is pleased that the team is finishing the year strong despite not having a chance to reach the postseason.

"We came out and worked hard," said Mulvey. "We played them the third game of the year. We've only got three seniors and seven underclassmen. We're more experienced now and that was the big difference in the end."

BALESTRACCI ON THE SPARTANS' STINGY D: "A lot of times we limited them to one shot. I thought that was important."

MURPHY THE MAN FOR STANG: In addition to the strong play of Mulvey, Balestracci was impressed with the effort of fellow senior Jack Murphy, who finished with 15 points and 13 rebounds, and Dessert, who chipped in with 14 points.

MULVEY ON THE IMPORTANCE OF FINISHING THE SEASON STRONG: "We are playing good basketball now. We know we can't make the playoffs but we talked to everyone and said, 'Let's end with five wins.' Nine and 11 sounds a lot better than 5-15 or 6-14."

NOTES: Keyes, who played varsity basketball for Stang as a freshman, led the way for Connolly with 18 points, including four 3-pointers. ... Stang has eight underclassmen on its roster including five sophomores. ... Stang shot 27-for-41 from the foul line for the game while Connolly was 7-for-7.